Provocation

One hour.

Two hours.

Four hours…

Six hours passed, but there was no commotion from evening till night.

Most of the villagers couldn't stay awake any longer and had fallen asleep. For the past month, they had been living in constant fear and under unimaginable mental stress.

The Abyssal Knights were guarding the village this night, so many of them instinctively felt at ease and slept more soundly than ever.

"What are you thinking about?" Tony asked, putting away the Book of Demons in his hand upon seeing Chen Gou lost in thought.

The book wasn't thick, but it recorded almost all the demons that had appeared in the Blue Wave World. His previous attempts to find some clues in it had been eventually fruitless.

"I'm wondering how such a demon can exist."

Chen Gou had just searched his mind for the movies and TV series he had watched before and vaguely felt that this mysterious demon should exist in his memory.

However, the demons and spirits in the many TV series he had watched were too numerous to count and a bit dated, so he couldn't answer the question for a moment.

"No matter what, it will certainly leave traces behind when it appears!"

Tony said with a snort, "In any case, I'll find it and then kill it no matter what it takes."

This was his and Chen Gou's first mission ever since they had joined the Abyssal Knights. Despite the small rewards offered, they had a lot of dignity.

If they failed their first mission, it would have a detrimental impact on their position among the big figures at headquarters.

Chen Gou didn't utter a word. As someone who feared death and cherished his life, he wasn't as obsessed with dignity as Tony.

After an unknown amount of time…

"Ah… Don't come over! Get lost!"

All of a sudden, a sleeping villager in the east let out a miserable scream.

Chen Gou happened to be facing in that direction and had seen everything right from the start.

He saw this middle-aged villager sit up abruptly and desperately scratch around his chest and neck, tearing his skin without stopping.

Soon, he was badly mangled.

He still had his eyes closed as if he was sleepwalking.

Chen Gou quickly summoned the Radiant Dawn, and a beam of Solar Flare landed on the villager almost instantly.

However, the villager did not regain consciousness. Instead, he screamed even more madly and tore his skin with all his might. Burn wounds had appeared on his body due to the Solar Flare.

"The power of light cannot drive it away?"

Chen Gou's heart sank, as the Solar Flare hadn't helped at all.

This meant that this mysterious demon was either strong enough to ignore the Solar Flare, or it wasn't nearby.

Perhaps, it might not even be strong enough to ignore magic skills, but an attack like the Solar Flare couldn't harm it.

Chen Gou preferred the last possibility…

Pfft!

Two bloody arrows suddenly soared through the villager's body.

One went through his heart, where a huge hole as thick as an arm appeared, rupturing his heart for no reason.

The other one went through his throat, but his carotid artery and trachea had been ripped by the villager himself!

Out of the blue, a living male adult had died strangely on the spot within less than a minute.

He had died silently!

Everyone's expression turned ugly as they gazed in horror at the corpse that had fallen quietly in a pool of blood.

A creepy aura pervaded the air, and the villagers convulsed with fear.

"It's definitely mental bewitchment. Otherwise, why did he kill himself?" a member of the Wildfire Team said firmly.

"Shut up! If he killed himself because of the bewitchment, how do you explain the hole in his heart?"

Tony's tone was cold, and he was in a bad mood. He felt a deep sense of provocation and contempt. The other party was absolutely unrestrained!

"It's an illusion!" Chen Gou said firmly.

Then, he let Tony hook his arms around his neck from behind to try and choke him.

"If someone attacked like this from behind, an ordinary person would only try to break free like crazy. The longer the suffocation lasted, the harder they would try to break free like crazy. That person could also pierce the heart from behind."

Chen Gou turned the corpse over and found a bloody hole behind it.

"We still have to answer the same question… How did the illusion cause wounds in reality?"

"We need someone to experience this illusion and wake up alive to tell us what's happening!"

Chen Gou narrowed his eyes and examined the five members of the Wildfire Team… Only Awakeners could survive that kind of illusion-employing attack.

What kind of Demon Hunter on the brink of death didn't feel an instinctive sense of danger?

Upon feeling his gaze, they immediately retreated in unison.

Their young female captain was the only exception.

"My innate skill is Soul Link, which allows me to connect my soul to another person and sense everything they have gone through. However, my soul will suffer the same attack as that person."

"What are you trying to do?" Chen Gou asked in a deep voice.

"I need a promise from you two, Sirs!"

The female captain locked eyes with Chen Gou. "The Wildfire Team will become a subordinate of yours and will be protected in the name of the Abyssal Knights."

"No! It's too dangerous. Didn't you see that terrifying scene just now? We won't even save you in time!"

"That's right, Angeline. So what if we succeed? These two knights are too young… I'm afraid they can't give us what we desire."

Upon hearing that, the other members turned pale with fright and quickly tried to persuade their captain not to be rash. They even accidentally said something that shouldn't have been said in front of the Abyssal Knights.

"Don't worry. This matter is settled. As long as you guys don't have a death wish, we can still get you promoted to Gold Demon Hunters within five years."

Tony activated his mana, and a golden lion shadow appeared behind him.

"The Arslan Family!"

The members of the Wildfire Team cried out in alarm and showed subtle changes in attitude.

An ordinary young Abyssal Knight was completely different from one that came from the Arslan Family.

"Say no more. I've decided."

Angeline decisively said, "Sirs, please take an oath. I will bet my life on it."

"Don't make this so melodramatic. The situation isn't as dangerous as you think. An Awakener's body is much stronger than an ordinary person's. We have enough time to save you."

The Wildfire Team's defection didn't mean that they would ignore the oath.

A knight's oath implied a certain responsibility!

The Wildfire Team would assist him and Tony in carrying out their missions or becoming stronger, but they would also have to help the Wildfire Team in times of crisis.

In a nutshell, this was akin to being a squire.

There was no shortage of such clusters behind almost any Abyssal Knight.

After the bodies were carried away and cleaned up, everyone started waiting again.

The villagers had just experienced a horrific change, so they couldn't sleep for the time being because they felt more horrified and desperate.

If even the Abyssal Knights couldn't protect them, was there really no way out for the White Stone Village?

The villagers vigilantly scanned their surroundings.

After three to four hours, no one fell asleep, but the demon did not descend again.

It was almost dawn, but the front of the church was still quiet.

Chen Gou gradually found some clues in his mind.

At least two people have died in the past few days, and the number won't suddenly decrease tonight. However, there was not another attack, so… the demon must need to meet some condition to be able to descend and kill people. That condition hasn't been met yet!"

What would that condition be?

Chen Gou scanned the villagers' faces, but they didn't dare look at him. Even though this was a very impolite gesture, they lowered their heads to avoid his gaze.

A divine light instantly flashed in Chen Gou's head.

"It's sleep! The demon does not need to appear at night, but when people are sleeping! Only people who are asleep will be attacked!"

At this thought, a name that had left a horrific memory in his childhood surfaced in his mind.

He had more or less guessed what this strange demon was.

However, at that moment, a slightly tender scream was heard.

It turned out that a young man who couldn't bear it anymore had fallen asleep sitting on the ground and the demon had just appeared…